And God said....Let there be light

Let there be light

Why does mankind continue to accept these terms of a few people lusting after power and control?

Is this judgmental abuse inherent in human nature?

Did God create the earth as a battle ground?

I doubt this was his intentions when heaven and earth was created.

The most profound statement about creation was:

......and God said: "LET THERE BE LIGHT"

Not just physical light. But the light bulb that goes on in your head when you finally 'get' the message.

it was meant to mean that man should see the right side of humanity.

The side of kindness, compassion, empathy, and love for one another.

To live in peace and harmony without malice, hate, or greed and selfishness.

Battling armies

history of men killing men | Source

The Greatest Legacy of Man

A Continuing cycle of barbaric conflicts & wars.

Conflict was not always the way of humanity. The small clans of nomadic hunter - gatherers that roamed the earth during the first 90,000 years of human existence appear to have been mostly peaceful and cooperative. The violence that did occur was mainly sporadic and unorganized.

A glimpse of what that vanished world might have been like was given to the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who made an epic journey across the mighty Greenland icecap in 1888. The Inuit peoples who Nansen encountered still lived in much the same way as their early ancestors, scattered in small, self sufficient groups and taking from the land only what they needed for their immediate purposes. He noted:

"Fighting and brutalities of that sort, are unknown among them, and murder is very rare. They hold it atrocious to kill a fellow creature. Therefore, war is, in their eyes, incomprehensible and repulsive; a thing for which their language has no word. And soldiers and officers, brought up in the trade of killing, they regard as mere butchers"

How, and when, humans first resorted to serious conflict are questions that have yet to be fully and finally answered. But the archaeological evidence (burial sites, cave paintings, fortifications, artifacts, etc..) suggest that it was only some 10,000(+/-) years ago that large scale combat became an inseparable part of human existence. What appears to have sparked the change in behavior was the rise of settled agricultural communities.

In addition to attracting the envy of groups that continued to follow the nomadic lifestyle, these settlements generated disturbing and divisive notions of wealth, territory, and ownership. I would suspect that this was the time of the introduction of greed into societies in general, albeit on a much smaller scale than today. As the communities proliferated, the amount of unused space diminished, personal rivalries increased, and competition for land, grain, trade, cattle, and labor, became the norm.

Even the most advanced societies were affected by the impulse to fight. The Assyrians, for example, who embellished much of the Middle East with their temples, palaces, and libraries, also became one of the world's foremost military powers. Other "civilized" powers have been hardly less bellicose (favoring, or inclined to start quarrels, or wars) in their relationships with their neighbors. Even the tiny [city - states] of Greece, recognizably celebrated for their artists, poets, and philosophers, produced warriors who fought as ferociously against one another as they did against the common enemy of Persia (known today as Iran).

United in the fourth century BC under the warrior kings of Macedonia, Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, Greek soldiers blazed a path to victory from the Mediterranean to the Indus River and from the Caucasus to the Red Sea.

Greece was succeeded in turn by another military colossus of the Mediterranean: Rome. By the year 250 BC, the Romans were well on their way to controlling the entire Italian peninsula. Over the next three centuries, the Roman legions, (perhaps the best trained soldiers in history), were to advance their battle standards throughout three continents, extending the Pax Romana (a period of general stability in international affairs under the influence of a dominant military power) to cover the almost two million square miles of the earth's surface.

The Roman peace managed to maintain itself throughout the Mediterranean and western Europe until the fourth century AD. But then, the situation changed dramatically. The Huns, (the wild, nomadic horsemen from central Asia, who rode into battle at a gallop, raining arrows with devastating accuracy) began moving westward in search of grazing for their flocks. As these terrifying warriors, approached, other barbarian peoples, such as the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, fled before them to push against the frontiers of the Roman world. The pressures proved irresistible , and in 410 AD, the legions beaten and scattered, the barbarians sacked Rome itself.

Are we heading for Global Destruction?

nuclear weapons

nuclear blast

future space war ships? Will this be our contribution to the universe as well?

war and violence and human pain | Source

The birth of battle

Man's history of war.

The apparent beginning of the end of any semblance of peace and tranquility on this planet began prior to 250 BC and escalated exponentially throughout the next 2,500 (+/-) years, and shows little sign of abating any time soon. To summarize:

EUROPE FROM 10,000 BC TO 500 AD:

Greek infantry, drawn up the battle formation known as the phalanx, defeat the much larger army of the Persian King Darius I at Marathon (49- BC).

Alexander the Great begins a thirteen year campaign of conquest that will establish his reputation as one of the greatest generals of all time (336 BC).

Roman legionaries, the finest foot soldiers of the ancient world, extend Rome's rule (241 BC - 107 AD) from the shores of the Caspian Sea in the east to Spain's Atlantic coast in the west, and from Britain in the north to Egypt in the south. An empire served by almost 50,000 miles of military highways.

The Huns sweep into Europe from central Asia, precipitating a mass migration that will eventually destroy the Roman Empire in the west (370 AD)

THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA FROM 10,000 BC TO 500 AD:

Conflict among settled communities in Mesopotamia leads to the emergence of the first armies (circa 10,000 BC).

The spear is supplemented by the bow and the sling (circa 10,000 BC).

Jericho, probably the first fortified settlement, is founded in the Jordan Valley (circa 8,000 BC).

Bronze is used to make weapons and armor (circa 3,000 BC).

War chariots are introduced by the Sumerians (circa 3,000 BC).

Armed with iron weapons, the Assyrians become the greatest military power in the Middle East (circa 900 BC).

The Phoenicians launch the first warships (circa 700 BC).

ASIA FROM 10,000 BC TO 500 AD:

Sun-tzu a Chinese general publishes "Art of War" . The earliest known treatise on the subject (circa 500 BC)

World War 2 WeaponsThe Second World War was a worldwide military conflict, now noted as the most widespread war in history. With more than 100 million military personnel becoming involved through various countries. There were two main sides to the war- the Allies (Sovi

The American Revolution - A World WarReading some of the comments on the Hubbers Hangout Forum regarding this week's HubMob topic, which is the 4th of July, I got the feeling that some people were a little upset over the fact that a purely...

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Credence2 6 years agofrom Florida (Space Coast)

A quote from the "Time Machine" novel, when the time traveler believed that the future would be a utopia without the war and conflict of the current time, his incredulous friend said that we have always been hunters and hunted, that is the way it has been since the time of the Phaoroahs, the way it is now, and we will find ways of destroying ourselves even within the vastness of outer space. Our technology is but a mere variable, but our lack of wisdom as a species seems to be the universal constant.

Thanks for your comments. As always they are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Kathy 6 years agofrom California

It truly is so hard to understand the need to cause such pain to another, for no apparent reason other than they are the "enemy"? Conflict is alive and well, perhaps less barbaric or perhaps more barbaric but it is equally ignorant and selfish greed, the need to have the most, be the best, bla bla bla - stupidity! Sadly it doesn't look like things are improving either. Great insight d.

Thanks for the link to "two wolves". Wonderful message. Upon reflection, i can say, i harbor no hatred, greed or lust in my heart (well regarding the lust part - almost none)LOL. Just disdain (scorn) for the ignorance and hatred that abounds all around us. -But working on that one too. Ignoring, or forgiving, ignorance and hatred is not much of an option.

We have this political war going on in the U.S. today between the Democrats and Republicans: One fighting for the continuation of greed (R) and the other fighting for the preservation of the middle class and seniors (D). Probably under stated but the concept is still there. It will be interesting which side wins.

I do a lot of writing about the evils of greed, and sadly enough there are always those few who comment that i talk about greed because i am jealous of those who have money. I find this kind of response quite odd and disturbing. And quite prevalent among republicans, which I also find very disturbing. Apparently "the people" no longer have any say in anything anymore. Otherwise there would be no more wars, for any reason. We seem to be dragging this one out for the sake of maintaining the status quo of the large oil companies, rather than correcting the problem by turning to alternative sources of energy.

I never really believed that there were cosmic forces, of evil versus good, battling it out, but watching this stuff in politics is sort of shattering (or at least bending) that belief as well.

ejazahmed2609 6 years agofrom Abu Dahbi, UAE

great hub on a burning question issue that is destroying to the humanity. certainly man and nations does not learns the lesson by the history. thanks for sharing.

Xavier Nathan 6 years agofrom Isle of Man

Hi d.william. You haven't been over to my hubs for a while so I thought I'd stop by to see how you were. I can't tell from your comment whether you like the book or not so I am looking forward to reading your review.

The best way for me to describe this inner conflict is by means of a Native American Indian story which describes the battle between two wolves residing in each one of us:

By focussing our attention on the negative we feed it. We are the guardians of our thoughts and inadvertently we fuel the fires we say we abhor. I remember once asking a hubber why she chose to watch the news every morning though she said it distressed her. Some people are simply unable or unwilling to change even though they know that what they are doing is not helpful.

Thank you for reading and commenting. I believe your comments are more relevant than people would care to believe. But, what is this inner conflict and why is it such an intricate part of human nature? I am about 3/4 through the book, and will make my observations, on that to you soon. Perhaps in the form of a hub? Thanks for your patience and kindness.

Thanks for reading and commenting. I guess i am doing all this research and studying the history of wars to try to make some sense of it in my head. There does not seem to be any 'sense' involved at all. I am learning that 99% of the wars throughout history have NOT been religion based as i had previously thought them to be. It seems that most of them that i have learned about so far are based more on greed and the lust for power than religion itself. Not that this knowledge makes it any more acceptable, or palatable. I find it mostly disgusting and uncalled for. It still takes 2 people to have a fight, two armies to have a battle, and two nations to have a war. What i do not understand is that those armies, and nations are made up of individual people that act as one mind that is controlled by such small groups of people. I am still exploring this phenomenon.

Xavier Nathan 6 years agofrom Isle of Man

As long as there is inner conflict we will see it manifest externally.

Ruby Jean Fuller 6 years agofrom Southern Illinois

This is interesting, so difficult for me to understand Man's need to conquer and rule. Greed has always been the driving force, and it's alive today. I don't pretend to know the solution, but putting ignorant people in office, who are greedy, will surely bring our country closer to destruction. Thank you for a very educational Hub.

Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, history is interesting, but as i said in above comment, ignorance only begets more ignorance. One has to know what history has done, in order to avoid doing it again. It seems that knowledge is not a prerequisite for politicians who ultimately make those decisions about war.

There were many matriarchal societies through out history. And i am sure they were much better managed than now. Even the bible, that billions of people blindly believe in, has hidden the importance of women from the past. I noted in my hub:

Thanks for reading and commenting. When you have people in charge of this, and other countries, who are devoid of accurate historical events, we cannot expect anything more of them than to cause the repeat of a history steeped in violence and wars. Ex. the female presidential contender who keeps reciting inaccurate historical 'facts' and refuses to debate a high school student on those historical 'errors'. And frightfully enough, someone like this will probably inevitably become the president of choice, elected by those who themselves are not aware of the accurate historical facts. Ignorance cannot do anything but produce more ignorance.

All efforts to avoid, or stop, wars by making new ones, is akin to trying to put out a fire by throwing more wood into it, in hopes of 'smothering' the flames.

Jean Bakula 6 years agofrom New Jersey

Hi There,

It does seem that humankind never learns. I've been learning to read The Motherpeace Tarot deck. It was illustrated and written by two well educated women from CA in the 1970's, at the height of the feminist movement. At first I thought they were just man haters, but they did much research and learned that many Matriarchal societies lived in peace as long as 10,000 yrs ago. There is proof that they kept track of their menstrual cycles, and that the children were watched by the Moms while the men went out to hunt. In fact, one of the groups lived near Nicea, right near the cult that Jesus's family belonged to. It's interesting stuff.

PETER LUMETTA 6 years agofrom KENAI, ALAKSA

History keeps repeating itself over and over, our inteliigence is only superceded by our stupidity. We never learn.